SpaceX launches Crew-7 mission, the company's 11th carrying astronauts

SpaceX launched 4 radical to the International Space Station from Florida as Elon Musk's company begins its 11th quality spaceflight ngo to date.

Known arsenic Crew-7, the ngo for NASA volition bring the radical up to the abstraction presumption for a six-month enactment successful orbit. The ngo is SpaceX's sixth operational unit motorboat for NASA to date, and the archetypal of the further missions the bureau awarded SpaceX.

Crew-7 launched successful the aboriginal hours of Saturday greeting from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, opening a astir 1 time travel to the ISS.

The ngo brings the fig of astronauts SpaceX has launched to 42, including some authorities and backstage missions, since its archetypal crewed motorboat successful May 2020.

Crew-7 consists of NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli arsenic the commander, European Space Agency astronaut Andreas Mogensen from Denmark arsenic the pilot, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Satoshi Furukawa and Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov arsenic ngo specialists.

SpaceX launched the astronauts successful its Crew Dragon capsule called Endurance, connected apical of a Falcon 9 rocket. Both the rocket and capsule are reusable, with the Endurance flying connected its 3rd ngo to date.

The institution is nether declaration for 14 missions nether NASA's Commercial Crew program.

SpaceX developed its Crew Dragon spacecraft and fine-tuned its Falcon 9 rocket nether NASA's program, competing against Boeing's Starliner capsule. But Boeing's capsule remains successful development, with costly delays putting the commencement of operational Starliner flights years down schedule.